The term “Food Synergy” is one that may not be familiar to many of us.  Every food that we eat has its own unique profile of nutrients.  These nutrients are consumed by us in  various amounts in the form of carbohydrates, protein, fat, vitamins, and minerals, and in the case of fruits and vegetables, additional substances called phytonutrients.  When it comes to the foods that we eat, research is now finding that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.  What this means is that it is the unique combination of nutrients in each food we eat, not necessarily each individual nutrient, that provide us health benefits. 

This helps to explain why we often read that we should strive to include a variety of foods in our diet.  Take, for example, the fact that thus far there have been more than 25,000 phytonutrients discovered in fruits and vegetables!  Eating a greater variety of these foods will help ensure that we consume a large number of these nutrients.  The same can be said for all the other foods groups as well. 

For that reason, it’s important that we include in our diets a variety of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts, and legumes as well as adequate amounts of low fat dairy and lean meat, fish, and poultry. Doing so will help keep our bodies finely tuned and reduce our risk for disease. 

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